Zebras?

[JJS]

Yes, I'm not quite sure why, but this doesn't sit too comfortably with me either. Speaking as an ex zoo keeper (although I never worked on the Zebra section) I have heard that they can be quite difficult to train. It can be quite hard to keep them straight as apparently, they prefer to canter or gallop in zig zags (an in bred reaction as it helps evade predators) and they can be truly lethal.

Surely a domesticated horse, that has been bred for millennia, to carry and serve humans would be a more sensible option - or is it just about wanting to be different for all the wrong reasons? Essentially, they are wild animals...proceed with caution!

I have to agree with this. It seems that the only value they would have would be novelty value. Watching the video of the little zebra jumping, I just kept thinking how unsuited to the job he looked when compared to a horse. Horses already do all of the things that a zebra or zebra hybrid might, so to train a wild animal for the purpose seems rather pointless, not to mention it's a concept I'm ethically uncomfortable with. Think of all the problems people have with wolf dogs; I can't see this being very much different.

 

[SarahWeston]

I have done a little work with zebras, a zorse, zedonks and a zonkey and have to say that the hybrid crosses were VERY in touch with their wild side and extremely instinctive - to the extent that they would lean back when taking food or water (in case of crocodiles) even in a domestic environment. In the case of the zebra, he had been handled since birth and my understanding is that they need to be handled from day one and every single day. In some places in America they take them off their dam the moment they are born and hand raise them but that was not the case with this little chap who was a yearling I think. He had been handled a lot and yet was still ambivalent about human touch. Interestingly when a zebra kicks they kick forwards and round and can reach a long way! I was told that a sexually mature male zebra is a pretty dangerous thing as they bite and keep hold. The hybrids had not had the benefit of so much handling and would probably have been a lot easier if they had been handled from birth. The zedonks, donkey dad, zebra mother, were very flightly and most like zebra probably because they had most of their nurturing from their zebra dams. There's a guy in America called Jerry that has a lovely zorse called Zelda - he has a facebook page and so does Zelda. She's a horse crossed with a Grevy's zebra so spectacular to look at. One more thing I was told - if you;ve trained a horse then you have about half the knowledge you need to train a mule and if you have trained a mule you have about half the knowledge you need to train a zebra.

I'd be very wary because as usual it is the animal that pays when we haven't got all the skills we need to train/look after them.

One more thing - apparently it is very difficult to sedate a mule or any other kind of hybrid sufficiently to be able to carry out even routine procedures such as hoof trimming.

 

[fburton]

Zebras are trickier to handle, right? Would that also be true, albeit to a lesser extent, for zebra hybrids?

I can see why the challenge might be attractive to some people. It would be for me, truth be told. But maybe it's not the best idea for your average horse owner, just as keeping stallions is not something one would recommend to everyone.

ETA: Posts crossed with SarahWeston, who addressed exactly what I was asking about.

 

[MargotC]

I have absolutely no idea of your background and experience with handling wild animals OP, so can only offer my thoughts from a personal POV.

I don't personally think wild exotic animals should be kept in a domestic setting by regular people. Zebras for instance are herd animals used to having huge areas at their disposal, and duplicating that setting in an artificial, limited environment is virtually impossible. I realise there are cases where Zebras and other exotic animals have been tamed and trained successfully, but you have to wonder at what cost for the animal in question. Suppressing thousands of years of wild instincts is not done in one generation. Just look at our domesticated horses.

Beyond the novelty of owning a Zebra that's in it for the owner, what would be in it to benefit the animal? The species? Preservation is in my experience best kept to official breeding programmes.

Personally - if I was curious about Zebras or any other exotic animal - I would look into volunteering in one of the parks who accept volunteers in South Africa, for instance. It would be a great way to see and interact with the animals in their natural setting, and get a better understanding of their needs and of what would - or should - go into potentially managing them in the UK. Another option I might then consider if I found my interest was still there would be to learn what credits might be needed to potentially work with them in a professional setting back home. There might be a good way to get a Zebra fix that doesn't require actually buying and managing one.

Again, just my personal view and not meant as a criticism of you, OP. I have just seen too many cases of exotic animals in private homes gone wrong, usually because the persons involved vastly underestimated the effort required. There's no such thing as too much research on the subject before proceeding further IMO.

 

[Penumbra]

Purely from a legal standpoint, you need to be fairly careful breeding, buying or transporting zebras or Zhorses in CITES countries, as some species and sub-species of Zebra are considered endangered and subject to CITES protection. Additionally, you would definitely need a license- only horses, donkeys and domestic hybrids (this means mules etc, not Zhorses) are excepted from the act.

http://www.doeni.gov.uk/niea/zebraa5leaflet.pdf has some potentially useful advice, although it's specific to Northern Ireland.

However, as you weren't even aware of the law, I would consider doing some proper research on keeping Zebras/Zhorses before you decide to buy or breed one.

 

[ester]

The video of the zebra reminds me of the jumping cow... some directional and speed control but still a bit limited .

Unless you are able to keep a zebra in a herd I don't think you should own one.

 

[Penumbra]

The video of the zebra reminds me of the jumping cow... some directional and speed control but still a bit limited .

Unless you are able to keep a zebra in a herd I don't think you should own one.

I think it would be very unlikely OP would be granted a license to keep a lone Zebra. I would think this would only be granted in the case of an animal that had proved dangerous to other members of its species and needed to be kept isolated.

 

[Crugeran Celt]

I am not sure I feel comfortable with this idea at all. Just can't see a reason for wanting to breed a horse with a zebra. We are having enough problems with so called 'desighner dogs' wouldn't want to see this going the same way.

 

[Spring Feather]

Not really, they have never been "wild" lol

Sorry, I meant in response to this part ... They will never move or jump like a domesticated horse, so will not replace them, and they will inevitably fall into the hands of inexperienced people who will have them as a novelty and then get bored of them or not be able to cope.

 

[blowsbubbles]

I have absolutely no idea of your background and experience with handling wild animals OP, so can only offer my thoughts from a personal POV.

I don't personally think wild exotic animals should be kept in a domestic setting by regular people. Zebras for instance are herd animals used to having huge areas at their disposal, and duplicating that setting in an artificial, limited environment is virtually impossible. I realise there are cases where Zebras and other exotic animals have been tamed and trained successfully, but you have to wonder at what cost for the animal in question. Suppressing thousands of years of wild instincts is not done in one generation. Just look at our domesticated horses.

Beyond the novelty of owning a Zebra that's in it for the owner, what would be in it to benefit the animal? The species? Preservation is in my experience best kept to official breeding programmes.

Personally - if I was curious about Zebras or any other exotic animal - I would look into volunteering in one of the parks who accept volunteers in South Africa, for instance. It would be a great way to see and interact with the animals in their natural setting, and get a better understanding of their needs and of what would - or should - go into potentially managing them in the UK. Another option I might then consider if I found my interest was still there would be to learn what credits might be needed to potentially work with them in a professional setting back home. There might be a good way to get a Zebra fix that doesn't require actually buying and managing one.

Again, just my personal view and not meant as a criticism of you, OP. I have just seen too many cases of exotic animals in private homes gone wrong, usually because the persons involved vastly underestimated the effort required. There's no such thing as too much research on the subject before proceeding further IMO.

This and agree with other similar posts. Also as an ex zoo keeper who has worked with them, they do not adapt to captivity, they are not horses. (Even horses which been domesticated for thousands of years and look at all the problems we get!) Seems gimmicky and not at all in the animals interests to me, and would be sad if we followed America's trend of doing this.

 

[kez81]

OP, I hope I can give you some personal experience and practical advice here. I spent some time in the USA at a ranch that had two zorses. They were interesting to look at but not good to deal with generally. One was very zebra in mindset and was flighty, suspicious and prone to nipping not to mention could give you a boot for no apparant reason. There was a gelding that was more horse in his nature so pretty much like according to his owner, like any other very fiesty hot blood breed, needed a calm and confident rider and handler. He did hack out with the owner and even do some cutting work but only around the ranch and only ever in company just incase he got overly excited or spooked. He was stunning to look at, I kid you not he was sort of pink with redish stripes, never seen anything so odd not even on the pinkest of strawberry roans I have met. I had been looking forward to seeing these zorses and was excited when I first met them but to be honest the novelty wore off pretty quickly and they struck me as a pain in backside. Obviously my experience is limited having only met these two and there maybe others that are totally fabulous to handle etc but I was just not impressed by these two.
As for the zebra father, I didnt meet him as he had been sold on, but I was told he had been hand-reared from birth by a specialist breeder, and owner bought him as a yearling. Apparantly he was quite sweet natured if he knew you and you stayed calm and quiet. They said they had to back him as a two year old so he wasnt too strong or fit to get his rider off and then everything had to be taught very calmly and slowly and he needed lots of settling in to any new situation. He was bought in the hopes of brining some xtra revenue to the ranch through displays etc but he proved too nervy off the ranch so they bred the two zorses by AI (the mares were scared of him apparantly so he couldnt cover them) in hopes of recouping some cash by selling them on when they were ready.

Now for the UK side of things. You would not just need a license to keep a zebra, you would need the right premises. Fencing for zebras has to conform to set guidelines and of course you have to have liability insurance which you may not be able to get through a regular horse-insurer.Also those gimmicky newspaper articles where some bloke rides his poor skinny two year old zebra to the pub, fail to mention that riding a zebra on public highways will get you slapped with a big old fine as there are lots of restrictions on "moving" these animals so you probably wont be able to take him off your premises without a lot of hassle. I am not sure this would apply to zorse as its a bit of a grey area but you may find there are restrictions on just what you can do with your novelty horse. Insurers wont want to cover you for anything less than an extortionate amount if this is the case. Then you have to consider the market. Domestic horses are expensive and difficult enough and your average horse owner is likely to look at the zorse and go ohh how lovely but buy the cheap to keep steady neddy down the road so you would have a very limited niche market. The fact that so few zorses are in this country and that, when they do come up for sale, they seem to stay that way for a very long time before either disappearing or being offered on loan, shows there really isnt much of a market for them yet. Maybe there will be in future but its an expensive gamble. If you are willing to take it though, I would suggest trying to see if you can get intouch with zorse owners (not breeders who will want to convince of zorses qualities to gain a sale) and ask them for their honest bones-an-all experiences.

 

[Laputyn]

Wow, I didn't expect to come back to so many replies.
If it doesn't sit well with some, that's fine. I have to deal with that a lot and it's never put me off anything I've done. Can't please everyone but this is something that I will do regardless of how others feel about it.
To me, if an animal isn't suffering and is being treated the way it should be then there isn't an issue.

One of my friends owns a zebra stallion. He is trained for movie work and has been in many films. She also offers him up for stud services. Her small children ride hers and he's a real softie.

Does she have a website or anything?

OP, I hope I can give you some personal experience and practical advice here. I spent some time in the USA at a ranch that had two zorses. They were interesting to look at but not good to deal with generally. One was very zebra in mindset and was flighty, suspicious and prone to nipping not to mention could give you a boot for no apparant reason. There was a gelding that was more horse in his nature so pretty much like according to his owner, like any other very fiesty hot blood breed, needed a calm and confident rider and handler. He did hack out with the owner and even do some cutting work but only around the ranch and only ever in company just incase he got overly excited or spooked. He was stunning to look at, I kid you not he was sort of pink with redish stripes, never seen anything so odd not even on the pinkest of strawberry roans I have met. I had been looking forward to seeing these zorses and was excited when I first met them but to be honest the novelty wore off pretty quickly and they struck me as a pain in backside. Obviously my experience is limited having only met these two and there maybe others that are totally fabulous to handle etc but I was just not impressed by these two.
As for the zebra father, I didnt meet him as he had been sold on, but I was told he had been hand-reared from birth by a specialist breeder, and owner bought him as a yearling. Apparantly he was quite sweet natured if he knew you and you stayed calm and quiet. They said they had to back him as a two year old so he wasnt too strong or fit to get his rider off and then everything had to be taught very calmly and slowly and he needed lots of settling in to any new situation. He was bought in the hopes of brining some xtra revenue to the ranch through displays etc but he proved too nervy off the ranch so they bred the two zorses by AI (the mares were scared of him apparantly so he couldnt cover them) in hopes of recouping some cash by selling them on when they were ready.

Now for the UK side of things. You would not just need a license to keep a zebra, you would need the right premises. Fencing for zebras has to conform to set guidelines and of course you have to have liability insurance which you may not be able to get through a regular horse-insurer.Also those gimmicky newspaper articles where some bloke rides his poor skinny two year old zebra to the pub, fail to mention that riding a zebra on public highways will get you slapped with a big old fine as there are lots of restrictions on "moving" these animals so you probably wont be able to take him off your premises without a lot of hassle. I am not sure this would apply to zorse as its a bit of a grey area but you may find there are restrictions on just what you can do with your novelty horse. Insurers wont want to cover you for anything less than an extortionate amount if this is the case. Then you have to consider the market. Domestic horses are expensive and difficult enough and your average horse owner is likely to look at the zorse and go ohh how lovely but buy the cheap to keep steady neddy down the road so you would have a very limited niche market. The fact that so few zorses are in this country and that, when they do come up for sale, they seem to stay that way for a very long time before either disappearing or being offered on loan, shows there really isnt much of a market for them yet. Maybe there will be in future but its an expensive gamble. If you are willing to take it though, I would suggest trying to see if you can get intouch with zorse owners (not breeders who will want to convince of zorses qualities to gain a sale) and ask them for their honest bones-an-all experiences.

Thank you for this, it gives me a lot more to think about.
I don't have a lot of experience, I will hold my hands up and admit that. However I am just now starting to look into it as it's something I've wanted to take part in for a long time. I wanted to ask on here as you never know who knows who!
The stallion situation has pros and cons. While I've known them be kept alone, it's not ideal, which would require me putting more money into land to cater to a small heard. But then at least I would know exactly what the stallion is like.
On the other hand I could be throwing away £2,500 + importation a time on frozen semen from a stallion I've never met. I've heard from others that it doesn't have a good success rate too.
As for the market, the way my plan would be is to only breed one for myself. If there were others interested then I might contemplate breeding more but it would have to be set in stone. For now, this is just for me.

I have a lot to learn and had intended on visiting these guys http://zebraguru.com once I properly start searching. I wouldn't like to go into this blind as I have heard enough horror stories with smaller animals like Raccoons, Skunks etc going to people who have no clue. Zebras have always come across to me as an animal that makes you pay the price forever if you mess up.

 

[Spring Feather]

Does she have a website or anything?

She does. I will PM it to you.

 

[Penumbra]

Wow, I didn't expect to come back to so many replies.
If it doesn't sit well with some, that's fine. I have to deal with that a lot and it's never put me off anything I've done. Can't please everyone but this is something that I will do regardless of how others feel about it.
To me, if an animal isn't suffering and is being treated the way it should be then there isn't an issue.



Does she have a website or anything?



Thank you for this, it gives me a lot more to think about.
I don't have a lot of experience, I will hold my hands up and admit that. However I am just now starting to look into it as it's something I've wanted to take part in for a long time. I wanted to ask on here as you never know who knows who!
The stallion situation has pros and cons. While I've known them be kept alone, it's not ideal, which would require me putting more money into land to cater to a small heard. But then at least I would know exactly what the stallion is like.
On the other hand I could be throwing away £2,500 + importation a time on frozen semen from a stallion I've never met. I've heard from others that it doesn't have a good success rate too.
As for the market, the way my plan would be is to only breed one for myself. If there were others interested then I might contemplate breeding more but it would have to be set in stone. For now, this is just for me.

I have a lot to learn and had intended on visiting these guys http://zebraguru.com once I properly start searching. I wouldn't like to go into this blind as I have heard enough horror stories with smaller animals like Raccoons, Skunks etc going to people who have no clue. Zebras have always come across to me as an animal that makes you pay the price forever if you mess up.

In order to gain the DWAL you would need, you would need to gain experience. You could also look into volunteering at a zoo/wildlife park that has Zebras. Depending on where you are in the country, I might be able to give you some recommendations. You would also need to nominate a secondary person who could deal with the Zebras/Zhorse in the event you were unable to do so. Doing some volunteering might help you find a contact who would be willing to do this. I would also consider getting hands on experience with mules if you can, as this might give you useful skills that would help you deal with a Zhorse.

If you are planning to keep a Zebra Stallion, I believe you would need fencing 8ft high as a minimum (this could be achieved by digging a ditch under the fence as well, I believe. If the field was near any roads or public rights of way, the field would need to be double fenced so that random members of the public couldn't access the Zebras.

Housing this sort of animal would be a very expensive undertaking, and so I would get as much experience as possible before hand, so you don't end up wasting your money.